Malcolm: No, dumbo. I’m talking about working out, getting in shape, trimming down and feeling good. But wait, there’s a way to make it easy and fun to work out every day: Wii Fit!

Meo: The Nintendo people have convinced the American consumer, including you, he or she (and you) needs a video game system, which retails for about $250 (plus, what, about $80 for the Wii Fit platform thingy), to do things he or she could do for free? The genius of this is absolutely mind-blowing. It ranks up there with bottled water (that’s foreshadowing, dear reader).

Malcolm: But it’s $330 or so well spent. It’s working out every day in the comfort of home. It’s not having to deal with other people’s eyes — because we know America is a culture of paranoia. It’s working out with friends. It’s fun visuals. It’s the perfect marriage of what has become the evil of our world (television) and what is one of the best things we can do (exercise). Hey, it’s better than spending $330 on a giant treadmill that collects dust.

Meo: There are plenty of ways to exercise at home that don’t involve a video game system, and they’ve been around a lot longer.

BowFlex, the Total Home Gym, exercise bikes, free weights, videotapes and DVDs — even Fit TV, all with the same thing in mind: You’re fat and too embarrassed to roll yourself to a gym, where a paid professional can teach you the right way to lose weight and theoretically keep you motivated.

Exercise shouldn’t be about the latest home gadgetry, it should be about commitment and consistency. Also, as a gamer who has owned many consoles and PCs, I can guarantee you: Wii Fit will either be replaced by something even more exciting and groundbreaking or wear out its welcome like any other video game eventually does.

Malcolm: That you offer the option of a “paid professional” only negates your argument about being able to work out for free. Put it this way: Fitness is never free.

There’s always someone, something telling you how to work out, what to eat, what not to eat and how to read the magazine that tells you how to work out and eat. Health and healthy foods cost more than fatty foods. So why pay ridiculous amounts of money for even more things (a Bowflex, DVDs, the Total Home Gym) when you can get Wii Fit and put it all in one place? It’ll streamline the way people exercise. And maybe, just maybe, it’ll motivate people more than any person or thing could ever. And isn’t that the goal?

Meo: My “paid professional” is probably the best route for people serious about fitness — adults anyway. The goal of the Wii seems to be tricking fat children into putting down the cupcakes and getting some level of activity into their sedentary lives. They won’t go outside, so let’s bring a virtual outside in.

My feeling is the majority of the people buying the Wii Fit already have those other things in their houses, collecting dust, being used as coat hangers. The people truly interested and invested in exercise don’t need the newest fad, however cool it may be, they just go out and do it.